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Art History Requirements

Chair: Allen F. Hockley

Professors J. M. Jordan, J. Kenseth, A. W. B. Randolph; Associate Professors A. Cohen, K. A. Corrigan, A. F. Hockley, A. Rosenthal; Assistant Professor M. K. Coffey; Senior Lecturers M. E. Heck, S. E. Kangas; Lecturers A. Bokhari, O. Mansour; Adjunct Assistant Professors J. L. Carroll, K. O’Rourke; Mellon Fellow P. E. Wolfskill.

Consult the Department Administrator, Betsy Alexander, for further information.

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MAJOR

Twelve courses as follows:

Prerequisite: Two courses from Art History 1, 2, or 4.

Requirements: Ten courses consisting of the following: one Studio Art course; six Art History courses, each from a different area (Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Modern, Asian); two seminars in Art History, one of which must be either Art History 85 or 86, which will serve as the Major Culminating Experience; and one other Art History course numbered 10 or higher. (Classical Studies 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26 may be substituted for this other course.) N.B.: Art History 1, 2, and 4 may serve only as major prerequisite courses.

Art History majors must complete a Major Worksheet (available in the Department office). Prospective majors are required to meet with the Department Administrator before cards are signed. A copy of the major card and the Major Worksheet must be filed with the Art History Department.

MODIFIED MAJOR

The courses making up a modified major should constitute an intellectually coherent whole. The Registrar’s Office requires a written statement explaining the rationale for the courses selected for the modified major.

Students wishing to file a modified major must complete a Modified Major Worksheet (available in the Department office). Those planning to modify Art History with another department or program are required to meet with the Department Administrator before cards are signed. A copy of the major card, worksheet, and rationale statement must be filed with the Art History Department.

Art History Modified

Prerequisite: Two courses from Art History 1, 2, or 4.

Requirements: Seven Art History courses: four that meet the departmental distribution requirement described above (i.e., four out of six categories); one of either Art History 85 or 86 (constituting the Major Culminating Experience); and two other Art History courses numbered 10 or higher. A Studio Art course may be substituted for one of these other courses. An Art History seminar (Art History 80-84) is not required, but is strongly encouraged. N.B.: Art History 1, 2, and 4 may serve only as major prerequisite courses. Four courses, selected in consultation with the Art History adviser, will be taken in the secondary (modifying) department(s), with whatever prerequisites they require.

Another Major Modified with Art History

Prerequisite: One course: Art History 1, 2, or 4.

Requirements: Four Art History courses selected in consultation with the adviser in the primary department.

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MINOR

Six courses as follows:

Prerequisite: One or two of Art History 1, 2, or 4.

Requirements: Four Art History courses, which must meet the departmental distribution requirement described above (i.e., four out of six categories). If only one prerequisite is taken, any additional Art History course may be taken as the sixth course. An Art History seminar (Art History 80-84) is not required, but is strongly encouraged. N.B.: Art History 1, 2, and 4 may serve only as prerequisite courses.

Art History minors must complete a Minor Worksheet (available in the Department office). Prospective minors are required to meet with the Department Administrator before cards are signed. A copy of the minor card and worksheet must be filed with the Art History Department.

ADVANCED PLACEMENT

The Department does not award course credit to students who have taken the high school Advanced Placement course in Art History. However, a student who has achieved a grade of 5 in this course may substitute appropriate mid-level Art History courses for the introductory survey courses (Art History 1, 2, or 4) required by the Art History major or minor. These courses must be chosen in consultation with a faculty major advisor.

TRANSFER CREDIT

Transfer credit is granted at the discretion of the Department Chair.

HONORS PROGRAM

To be eligible for the Honors Program, a student must have achieved by the end of the junior year a 3.2 general College average and a 3.4 average in all Art History courses. A candidate for admission to the Honors Program must, in either the spring preceding or in the fall of his/her senior year, consult with a potential adviser and submit a written and in-person presentation to the whole Art History faculty of his/her proposed Honors project. Admission or non-admission to the Honors Program will subsequently be determined by a vote of the faculty. The Program will consist of an advanced project of study under Art History 90-91 (only one of which may be counted as part of the major, under “other”), taken during two consecutive terms in the senior year.

Students are strongly encouraged to initiate discussion with an appropriate faculty adviser as early as possible in the junior year.

The Art History Department oversees funds intended to underwrite research for honors projects in the Department. For information see the Department Administrator.

FOREIGN STUDY PROGRAM

In order that students may have an opportunity to study art history in direct contact with original works of art, the Department conducts a Foreign Study Program during the spring term. Based in Rome, one of Europe’s richest artistic centers, with a continuous evolution from antiquity to the present, the program examines the monuments of the city, their creators, their patrons, and their various audiences.

This program is open to all students, the prerequisites being Italian 1 (or its equivalent) and Art History 1, plus one of Art History 2, 21, 22, 25, 30, 31, 36, 40, 41, 42, or 45. The program consists of two Art History courses (Art History 10 and 11), which may be counted toward the major, and a course in The Language and Culture of Rome (Art History 12). Interested students should contact Professors Cohen, Corrigan, Kenseth, Randolph or Rosenthal as early as possible in their academic careers.